Musings of a Journeyman
by Walker Of The Yellow Path
Summary: A Newbie Sidereal is thrust into a web of plots, conspiracies, and scandals, when he takes in a mortal after his last successful mission.


Chapter 1

What is Fate?

That is a question asked by many mortals. The smart ones believe that fate dictates all. That you can't fight it. The fools believe that fate does not exist, that everyone, be they mortal or god, decides their own fate. I know that fate is neither.

When dealing with mortals, fate **does** dictate all. However, certain beings... certain **annoying**beings, have the ability to mess with or otherwise ignore fate. It is my job to fix their mistakes, help them make decisions that don't mess with fate, or eliminate them if they prove too troublesome. I prefer option 3, since I'm not so good at the other two.

I still remember my first case, back when I had first joined Bureau...

**Undercity, Chiaroscuro; 1 year after the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress**

I hate the Undercity.

It's not that it smells (though that didn't help), or that it was literally a sewer (which didn't help either). It was the fact that everyone you met there seemed to want your money (Dire lances do make something like that easier to bear though). Unfortunately, I had a target here, and thus had to slog though the tunnels. It is also underground, which forced me to leave my powerbow at home (it's impossible to get a good shot with those things underground).

What brightened up my day, however, was looking at the target's file. Boy did he piss of the Bureau.

It is never a good idea to piss of the Bureau of Destiny, for three reasons. Reason 1: You probably screwed with fate in a big way, and that is never a good idea. 2: You probably pissed of numerous gods, causing them to lodge complaints about your actions. 3: You most certainly have a Sidereal or Experienced god going for your head. In this case, I was the Sidereal.

My target was named Khalitas Rhet, a greedy aristocrat who had found himself Exalted by the Unconquered Sun. Seeing this as his big chance, the young Eclipse set up a large criminal empire in the span of two years. All in all, not so problematic. What caused a problem was when he had Sylvia Bright assassinated Sylvia was a important functionary in Chiaroscuro, and had been destined to do some great things, including stopping a criminal empire at one point. She was also the God-Blooded daughter of Grandmother Bright, the protector of Chiaroscuro, but due to the ancient Eclipse pacts, Lady Bright could not take direct action against him, so she complained to the Bureau.

The Bronze Faction was only too happy to accept this job.

I can see that your confused. 'Why send a Chosen of Journeys? Why not Battles, or Endings?' Why you ask? Because I grew up in Chiaroscuro. I was a street rat, always moving, thieving for food, you know. By the time I Exalted, I knew Chiaroscuro like the back of my hand.

Grandmother Bright knew the location of Rhet's headquarters, and was happy to inform me of where it was. Which is why I was here. In the Undercity.

Rhet's base was a large First Age water purifier that had been converted into a gang hall by Rhets men. It had only one entrance, which was guarded by 3 well-trained thugs, alongside a veritable army of criminals inside. My basic plan was to get the guards to bring me to their boss, then kill him. If that didn't work, I would kill the guards, take a uniform, then sneak in, and assassinate the target. If that also didn't work, I would kill everyone who got in my way, and then kill the target.

As I approached the entrance, I saw the three guards sitting down around a table, in front of the door, playing poker. good hands on all of them too. Their spears were resting on their chairs, and they each had a flame piece holstered. Good idea too. In this cramped corridor, one shot would kill anyone not standing behind them.

"Hey there buddies," I said as I walked into view. "Mind letting me through? I have to see the boss. Its urgent."

Being typical guards, they grabbed their weapons and pointed them at me. "No one sees the boss."

Well Plan B then.

With one thrust of my Dire Lance, I pierced the throat of all three guards. Their bodies hit the floor with a soft thump and a jangle of keys. I checked all three uniforms, wanting to see if any fit. Nope. It was at that moment that I knew the Maidens were going to start toying with me. I was not a large man, and the chance that all three guards wore small armor was too big of a coincidence.

Then even more evidence that the Maidens were toying with me showed up. The door opened.

"D-d-does a-a-ny o-one wa-want a drink?" Stuttered a young girl as she held forth tray of cups and a pitcher. The only reason she hadn't noticed what had happened was because she was looking straight down. Switching my Lance to my off hand, I drew my knife (a perfectly normal knife, nothing odd about it, ha-ha) and held it to her throat.

She froze.

"Just stay quiet and you don't get hurt." I instructed, using this opportunity to get a better look at her. She was a pretty young lady, probably no older than 16. She was dressed in a shapeless potato sack, and had a steel collar on her neck. A slave. I knew what to do now.

"Listen, after I enter the building, you enter, and hide in the first room. Don't come out until you here this," and I whistled a 7 note tune. "That means my job here is done, and I'll be able to get someone to remove that collar from your neck. Will you do it?"

Her eyes widened and she nodded furiously.

"Good."

And then I entered the base. I will spare a description of what happened, to avoid upsetting the younger generation. It helped though that after the first few rooms, they just started fleeing when the man with the demonic lance a that was drenched in blood (none of it his own), approached. I finally tracked down the boss. Rhet was a large man, fat from gorging himself on the suffering of others. He had limited proficiency with combat, leaving battle to his nine oath-bound guards. All dead in three seconds. He tried making entreaties to me, but My Unhearing Dedication to the Bronze prevented his words from affecting me. And in half a second, their was only me.

I departed, bringing with me the slave girl. At that point, I could not anticipate the implications of bringing her with me.

* * *

A/N: Hello! New Author!

Well I would like to receive some reviews, as I do not think myself completely horrible at this thing. Update Schedule will Probably be sporadic, with this as an actual story dealing with a Sid I made for a game that I tossed in favor of a DB when my group expressed a desire to have one of each Exalt type, and I liked him enough to create a story for him. So Review please!

-ChosenofMela


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